The installation and upkeep of waterproof tile walls around a bath or shower unit has been both expensive and difficult to maintain. The installation of such walls normally requires the services of a skilled laborer, and hence is expensive. Further, the grout and caulking between these tiles tends to crack and flake off with age, resulting in both the loss of the waterseal between the tiles, as well as the aesthetic appearance of the walls. Moreover, the resulting cracks and fissures retain moisture which facilitates the growth of unsightly molds and fungi therein, which further spoils the appearance of the walls. If the resulting cracks and fissures are not regularly cleaned and filled by new grout and caulking, the moisture generated by bath and shower mists will ultimately seep through the edges of the tiling, causing the tiles to loosen and fall off and necessitating an expensive partial or complete replacement of the tiling.
One solution of the problems associated with bath tile installation of a plastic or fiberglass tub surround over the walls surrounding the bath or shower. Examples of such tub surrounds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,996,703 and 4,109,426.When installed in a new home, such surrounds obviate the need for bathwall tiling. When installed in an older home, such surrounds completely cover cracking and fungus stained bath tiling and replace it with an entirely new wall surface which is substantially waterproof, easily washable, and aesthetically pleasing.
However, the relatively complicated shapes of some of the component parts of each of these two tub surrounds renders them unduly expensive to fabricate and unnecessarily costly to the consumer. For example, the 3,996,703 patent teaches fabricating each of the three wall panels of the tub surround structure with special enlargements and edge flanges so that the wall panels will engage the corner panels in a proper overlapping relationship. Further, the 4,109,426 patent teaches circumscribing the cover panels with a narrow flange, and offsetting each of the legs of the corner panels so that the edges of the wall and corner panels will properly engage in overlapping relationship. As these two examples are fairly illustrative of the present state of the tub surround art, it is clear that the prior art has as yet failed to provide the consumer with a tub surround comprised of simple, inexpensively fabricated wall and corner panels which are capable of neatly overlapping one another in substantially water tight relationship.
Additionally, the tub surrounds are sold as kits by houseware dealers, home improvement centers and discount stores. The kit must fit within a box of minimal size for inventory and sales purposes and for ease of transport and installation by the user.